Automotive floor mat manufacturers need effective ways to package and market their products. One important measure of an effective floor mat display is its ability to hold the floor mats together and protect them in shipping and handling. Another important measure is the package's ability to display the mats and their main selling features to retail customers.
Currently, floor mat manufacturers use staples to join floor mat sets. Staples are difficult to remove and damage the mats they penetrate.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,856,654 to Reuben, issued Aug. 15, 1989, discloses a system for displaying two-mat sets. The packaging system includes a hanger for suspending the floor mat package from a display bar. A single pouch is attached alongside the floor mats for holding certain accompanying fastening components. Staples penetrate the mats, the pouch, and the hanger. The staples serve to hold the mats, pouch and hanger together but also damage the mats. The staples must be forcibly extracted using tools such as pliers, or a screwdriver. In addition, this system is unable to handle four-piece floor mat sets since staples will not penetrate a stack of four mats.